Corrosion of metal surfaces in aqueous media has long been a problem for industries such as the oil and gas industry, food/beverage industry, and wash/sanitizing industry. For example, it is well known that during the production of oil and gas several other corrosive components are present such as brines, organic acids, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and microorganisms. These aggressive constituents can cause severe corrosion to metal pipes, which are often made of low-alloy steels. This problem is even more troublesome in deep-sea operations where replacement of corroded equipment is difficult and costly.
It is common practice to employ corrosion inhibitors during the production, transportation, storage, and separation of crude oil and natural gas. Corrosion inhibitors are usually surface-active compounds that form protective coatings on the surfaces of metal components, which come in contact with corrosive environments. Among the most frequently used corrosion inhibitors in crude oil and natural gas extraction are imidazoline derivatives.
In the food/beverage and wash/sanitizing industry, solutions such as sodium hypochlorite solutions are commonly used and are highly effective as bleaches and sanitizers for cleaning a variety of surfaces. However, sodium hypochlorite solutions are corrosive to many treated surfaces, in particular, metal surfaces become highly corroded.
Despite the availability of corrosion inhibitors for use in the oil and gas industry, food/beverage, and wash/sanitizing industry, there still exists a need for improved compounds, compositions and methods for providing corrosion inhibition.